Oh my goodness, Dane has such a personality these days. He has these obsessions and things that he LOVES, and it's so fun to see him get excited about things and understand what they are all on his own. Obviously, one of the major things he is really into is transportation vehicles: cars, trucks, trains, planes, you name it. It is a kind of self-perpetuating thing to love because any time we drive anywhere he gets thrilled to see all the trucks and construction vehicles driving along the road. Our drives are now just filled with commentary from him on what things he sees as we drive: "Blue car! Blue car! Blue baby car! Green konkey micker! [Concrete mixer, for those of you who don't speak Dane...] Up the bridge! Down the bridge! Car transporter! Tow truck!" Seriously, he knows the names of all sorts of trucks, thanks to several books we have, and he calls them out when he sees them. He even BUILT HIS OWN car transporter while playing with his truck and car and putting them on top of each other--and then named it! It blows my mind at how quickly his little mind picks things up. What an amazing skill to be able to see a picture in a book, understand what it is, and then recognize it again in another context and understand that this thing and the picture in the book are the same! It blows my mind. Kids learn so much so fast!
He is talking up a STORM. He is very serious about playing with his trains and one day while I was playing with him, he looks up at me and very seriously said, "I need more tunnels." We were leaving to go somewhere in the car and I told him he couldn't bring his blankie with him, and he said, "I blankie mommy's bag." Like he knew I could just put it in my diaper bag and that would solve that problem. He loves to sing along in sacrament meeting, just this long, drawn-out monotone chant that he yells while everyone else is singing the hymns, and he'll sing at least one or two lines from most of the songs we sing a lot (ABCs, Wheels on the Bus, I am a Child of God, etc.).
Something he is REALLY into is helping in the kitchen. He really, really wants to stand on his little stool and help "tap eggs" (as he calls it) and do basically whatever you're doing. This is nice because it entertains him, but bad when you've got the stove or knives going. But you can distract him by letting him play with the water in the sink if you're desperate.
At some point, he decided it was funny to pretend to go to sleep while we're eating our meals. So now at least once a meal he pretends to fall asleep (eyes closed, snoring noises, everything) and snickers while we beg him to wake up. He thinks it's hilarious. And so do I, frankly.
Look, he's asleep! Don't go to sleep, Dane! Stay awake!
This is probably the funniest thing: He has a little hole in the arm of his booster seat where you can hook in the tray if you want to use it. For some reason he looks down in the hole and then will look up at you and say, "Ernie in there?" "Bert in there?" "Tigger in there?" Every day he asks about his friends (from Sesame Street or Winnie the Pooh) who are in this little hole in his booster chair. I am positive that we did not suggest this or give him the idea that there were people in this hole so I have no idea where this came from. But it is super funny. (This is them looking for Ernie in the hole.)
He went and stood in the corner and started talking, listening to the echoes. We asked him what he was doing, and he said, "Crying in the corner." ????
Tommy is still his favorite person in the world, and he is showing that affection by calling him solely by his given name. "Daddy" has been completely removed from Dane's vocabulary and replaced by "Tommy." Whenever he sees him, he says, "Hi, Tommy! Hi, Tommy!" He used to use "Daddy" as an adjective to describe something big ("Big Daddy truck!") but now even that has been replaced by Tommy. It is so funny. We keep trying to get him to say Daddy but he seriously hasn't said "Daddy" even once for almost a month now.
(In a similar vein--we would say "Take a big Daddy drink!" to get him to drink more milk at the end of a meal. He has now run with that and will take drinks for everyone in our family. "Big Tommy drink! Baby Maddie drink! Zach drink! Troy drink! Papa drink! Cole drink!" He'll go through all his aunts and uncles and cousins if we let him.)
Dane and Tommy wearing capes and marching around the living room. This happened after FHE a few weeks ago when we were marching and singing "Follow the Prophet" and somehow it became this.
Look at these best friends forever! Tommy and Dane!
Seriously, if someone had told me that one day I would be voluntarily looking up the names of different construction vehicles so I could distinguish between them, I don't know if I would have believed them. But I totally am and Dane could probably spend all day talking about them--that and trains. I think we need to find him some other interests too. But it sure is cute!
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